Sexagesima Sunday 7.2.21 Suffering
God tells the disciple Ananias that He has not yet told Paul all he must suffer for Christ. (Acts 9,16)
In today’s epistle St Paul recalls all that he has suffered. It is a very formidable list… shipwrecks, floggings, hunger, lacking shelter, danger of capture etc.
It may be just as well that God did not tell Paul all this in advance, else he may have buckled under the prospect.
Just as well for us too that God mercifully withholds much of the future from our sight; instead, He encourages us to look back and see how much we have already overcome with His help.
Truly He does not let us be tested beyond our strength (1 Cor 10,13). If we take the sufferings one at a time they do not seem so bad.
Still, the prospect of suffering does intimidate many would-be Christians, as the parable of the Sower reveals. Let them encounter some obstacle or trial and they fall away (Mt 13,21).
If we think of what might happen (food for wild animals, burnt at the stake, or beheaded etc!) it does not sound very inviting, and would make anyone quake with fear.
However, if we come from another angle, from a God-centred view, then we can see things in a much more positive light.
This is what St Paul did. He did not dwell on the sufferings; He let them pass as incidental to the main event – which was to know Christ, and Him crucified (1 Co 2,2). All else he accounted as so much rubbish (Ph 3,8). Even his life he did not hold valuable (Acts 20,24)
His whole focus was Christ and making Him known. This, he could see, was the key to everything.
When we are totally focused on something we do not notice the surroundings. When we face a big event all our mental energy goes into that. It is only when we have time on our hands that we think idly about all that can go wrong.
What we need to do, therefore, is steel ourselves with more courage, commitment, single-mindedness, such that we also are so focused on our identity as disciples of Christ, that all else falls into the background.
How do we get to such a state? By the grace of God who will reward any serious attempt to draw closer to Him. And for our part, keeping up the regular schedule of prayer, penance, sacraments, good works, generally immersing ourselves in His reality.
We begin with Christ and we stay with Him all the way along. We grow in love for Him, and this increases our capacity to suffer in His name.
Peter and John rejoiced that they had suffered for the Name. they were glad to have a chance to do something that would express their love for Him (Acts 5.41).
It is the complete reverse of the usual fleshly worldly way of thinking, where our first instinct is to seek pleasure and avoid pain. Instead, we seek Christ and we avoid betraying Him
We can avert some of the persecutions that might await us by prayer and obedience.
If enough people prayed, and well enough, a lot less terrible things would happen.
There will always be some sufferings but we can reduce them.
What cannot be avoided can be negotiated one at a time with our focus firmly on Our Lord.
This is how countless men, women, and children have managed to negotiate suffering and found their way into eternal life.
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